Veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal, known for films like Ankur (1974), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976), and Bhumika (1977) along with the acclaimed historical television drama series Bharat Ek Khoj (1988), based on the book Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, left for heavenly abode on Monday December 23, 2024 in the evening. He breathed his last at the age of 90 at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital.
Benegal was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital a few days after he celebrated his 90th birthday on December 14 this year. He is survived by his wife Nira Benegal and daughter Pia Benegal. As per a report on NDTV, Pia informed that his father was battling a chronic kidney related ailment which became the cause of his death. She was quoted as saying by the publication, “He passed away at 6:38pm at Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai Central. He had been suffering from chronic kidney disease for several years but it had gotten very bad. That’s the reason for his death.”
A recipient of several acclaimed honours including the likes of the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, he was also awarded with the country’s highest honour in cinema – the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He has 18 National Awards to his credit. With his acclaimed films in the 1970s, he became an unmatched voice in the parallel cinema movement in India and was considered as a force to be reckoned with. He was committed to his passion for filmmaking till his final days.
Benegal had told PTI on the occasion of his 90th birthday that he was working on a couple of projects for the big screen. “I’m working on two to three projects; they are all different from one another. It’s difficult to say which one I will make,” he’d told PTI. His last film to hit the theatres was Mujib: The Making of a Nation which released in 2023. May his soul rest in peace.
